Days Of Induction Chemotherapy Research Articles

In search of Pinkel’s children: unravelling the biological heterogeneity of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia by genotype and treatment molecular response

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the commonest childhood malignancy has seen remarkable progress since the 1960s with cure rates now approaching 85%. To achieve this patients undergo intensive treatment that usually takes 2.5-3.5 years involving on average 15 different chemotherapeutic drugs. In 1971, Donald Pinkel reported Total Therapy-Protocol V that used 5 drugs and cranial radiation therapy over a similar time period. Today, one half of these patients (Pinkel's children) remain alive and free of leukaemia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact post-induction minimal residual disease (MRD) levels had on survival and its relationship with the more established clinical and biological prognostic predictors of outcome in the hope of identifying a subgroup of patients that are at very low risk of failure. A retrospective review of 250 Irish children with ALL was carried out. MRD status after 28 days of induction chemotherapy and other known predictors of outcome were correlated with 5 year event-free survival (EFS). MRD status was the strongest predictor of outcome with 5 year EFS rates greater that 90% seen in those patients with low-risk MRD and this was associated with TEL/AML1 rearrangement, high hyperdiploidy (HH) karyotype and female gender. Both MRD and karyotype are powerful determinants of outcome in childhood ALL. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the majority of children cured by Pinkel et al. in the late 1960s were most likely composed of low-risk MRD, TEL/AML1 and HH patients.

Higher Urinary Excretion of Inorganic Phosphate During Early Induction Chemotherapy Predicts a Good Prognosis in Childhood Acute Leukemia

The rapidity of response to induction therapy is emerging as an important prognostic factor in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Urine inorganic phosphate (IP) and uric acid (UA) may increase in patients with acute leukemia who undergo their induction chemotherapy, owing to the breakdown of tumor cells. The crystallization of UA or calcium phosphate in renal tubules can result in acute tumor lysis syndrome (ATLS). Some reports indicate that patients who experience ATLS have a better prognosis than those who do not. We investigated the relationship between urinary IP and UA excretion and treatment outcome in children with acute leukemia. Participants included 93 patients with ALL and 31 patients with AML. Urine samples were collected and measured for the first 3 days of induction chemotherapy. Among patients with ALL, urinary IP excretion was significantly higher in patients without relapse than in those with relapse and correlated with long-term outcome. Among patients with AML, urinary IP excretion was significantly higher in patients without induction failure (IF) than those with IF. We propose that higher urinary IP excretion could be a useful prognostic marker for determining favorable outcomes in patients with acute leukemia.

AUTOLOGOUS STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION with INTRAVENOUS BUSULFAN, CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE, and ETOPOSIDE as First-LINE TREATMENT of PRIMARY CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM LYMPHOMA in a SINGLE CENTER.

Abstract 1219Poster Board I-241 BackgroundHigh-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has been evaluated in several trials and has shown feasibility as first-line treatment of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). However, the best conditioning regimen is still to be identified and high-dose chemotherapy of busulfan, cyclophosphamide, and etoposide (BuCyE) has not been tried although the regimen was shown to be effective for leukemia and systemic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. MethodsBetween May 2005 and November 2008, 12 consecutive patients of PCNSL with pathologic diagnosis of diffuse large-B cell lymphoma were treated with the intent of upfront ASCT at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. We retrospectively analyzed the results of these patients. The treatment included induction chemotherapy of high-dose methotrexate/cytarabine (Abrey et al., JCO 21:4151, 2003), followed by BuCyE chemotherapy consisting of iv busulfan (3.2mg/kg from day -7 to day -5), iv cyclophosphamide (50mg/kg from day -3 to day -2), and etoposide (200mg/m2 every 12 hours from day -5 to day -4), and ASCT. Whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) was reserved for patients who failed to achieve complete response (CR) after ASCT. ResultsMedian age was 50 years (range, 33-65) and 9 were male. The test of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology came out to be positive for 3 patients. Eight patients achieved CR and 4 gained partial response (PR) after induction chemotherapy. All 12 patients managed to complete ASCT. Following ASCT, additional 2 patients gained CR, resulting in total number of 10 patients (83.3%). Patients who failed to reach CR were further treated with WBRT and 2 more patients achieved CR. Median duration of first CR was 12.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.6-20.9) at a median follow-up of 23.8 months (range, 8.8-50.7). Relapse of disease occurred in 7 patients (58.3%) and 5 of them were given salvage treatment (Table 1). Two patients could regain CR and sustained remission for more than 2 years. Two patients had died of disease at the time of analysis. Median event-free survival (EFS) from the first day of induction chemotherapy was 15.0 months (95% CI, 8.3-21.8) and median overall survival (OS) was not reached. The 2-year OS probability was 78.8% and 2-year EFS was 25.7%. No patient experienced veno-occlusive disease or treatment-related mortality (TRM). Three patients among those who were treated with WBRT or intrathecal chemotherapy developed leukoencephalopathy. ConclusionBuCyE chemotherapy might be an option of conditioning regimen for ASCT considering high CR rate of 83.3% and favorable toxicity profile in the treatment of PCNSL. However, high relapse rate of 58.3% suggests that more optimization of induction and conditioning chemotherapy is still required.Table 1Patient dataSex/AgeExtent of diseasePre-ASCTPost-ASCTBrain RT (Gy)Overall Resp.1st CR Duration (Mo)Relapse siteSalvage TreatmentResponse to salvage TxEFS (Mo)OS (Mo)StatusNeuro-toxicityM/65BrainPRPR48CR41.6---50.750.7AWoDLeg weaknessF/55BrainCRCR451)CR13.2Brain & eyeChemotherapy2)PR15.048.2AWDLEPM/53BrainCRCR-CR33.1---34.834.8AWoDNDF/52BrainPRCR-CR1.6BrainWBRTCR6.834.7AWoDNDM/33Brain & CSFCRCR-CR4.1CSFIT-chemoCR6.031.2AWoDLEPM/43BrainCRCR-CR8.1BrainWBRTNE9.725.0Alive3)NDM/62BrainCRCR-CR12.8BrainWBRTPR18.922.7AWDNDM/63Brain & CSFCRCR-CR6.2Brainnone-7.89.9DODNDM/48Brain, CSF & maxillary sinusPRPR44CR4.0Brainnone-13.013.2DODLEPF/47BrainPRCR-CR6.4---12.912.9AWoDNDM/45BrainCRCR-CR6.4---9.59.5AWoDNDM/48BrainCRCR-CR6.3---8.88.8AWoDNDAbbreviations: AWoD, alive without disease; AWD, alive with disease; DOD, dead of disease; IT-chemo, intrathecal chemotherapy composed of hydrocortisone, methotrexate, and cytarabine; LEP, leukoencephalopathy; ND, not definite; NE, not evaluated1)The patient was given WBRT after ASCT as she was assessed as PR at that time. However, the residual non-enhancing lesion by MRI did not change during follow-up and showed no hypermetabolism on PET. The lesion was concluded as post-biopsy change later.2)Chemotherapy of high-dose methotrexate/cytarabine and intravitreal methotrexate injection was done.3)The patient was lost to follow-up after WBRT but he is presumed to be alive according to the data of National Health Insurance Corporation. DisclosuresNo relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Staphylococcal Endocarditis Presenting with a Renal Infarct in a Patient with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

We present here a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and who developed infective endocarditis during induction chemotherapy with prednisolone, L-asparaginase (Leunase), vincristine and adriamycin. The patient did not have a history of a central venous catheter. Sharp flank pain and fever occurred on the 25(th) day of induction chemotherapy. In addition, a renal infarct and movable vegetations on the mitral valve were detected on the abdominal computed tomography (CT) and echocardiography. S. aureus was identified in the cultured blood. While the patient achieved remission, follow-up echocardiography revealed the vegetation had increased in size and an abscess pocket had developed despite the antibiotics and heparin therapy. Consequently, ten days after the diagnosis of infective endocarditis, a successful mitral valvuloplasty was performed without complications. The patient is currently on maintenance chemotherapy while in remission.

Safety study of induction chemotherapy and synchronous radiotherapy (RT) and cetuximab in stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): SCRATCH (Cohort I)

18032 Background: The addition of cetuximab can increase the efficacy of chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC. Concomitant cetuximab and RT is superior to RT alone for locally advanced squamous cell head & neck carcinoma. The SCRATCH study (cohort I) is a phase I study to assess the safety of synchronous cetuximab and radical RT in patients with Stage III NSCLC. Methods: Cohort I will contain 12 patients with inoperable stage III NSCLC. Inclusion criteria are performance status 0–1, adequate organ function, and disease encompassable within a radical RT volume. Exclusion criteria are previous malignancy, thoracic RT or treatment with EGFR targeted therapy. Patients receive platinum-based induction chemotherapy, followed by weekly intravenous cetuximab (initial dose 400mg/m2; maintenance dose 250mg/m2) and concomitant RT (64Gy/32fractions/45days). The primary end-point is toxicity. NCI Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) V3.0 assessments are performed weekly during radiotherapy, and at regular follow-up visits. Results: Data from the first 9 patients is available. 2 patients stopped receiving cetuximab early due to toxicity. 1 experienced grade 3 fatigue following the initial dose, and the other declined further treatment after developing grade 2 skin toxicity. 2 patients have died, 1 from disease progression and 1 from thromboembolic disease. Both deaths occurred between months 2 and 4 post RT and were not attributed to the cetuximab therapy. Of the 7 living patients, 2 have survived 1 year (measured from the first day of induction chemotherapy). The maximum NCI CTC V3.0 scores are summarised in the table below. Conclusions: The results suggest that the early and late toxicities of synchronous cetuximab and radical RT are acceptable. Data on all 12 patients will be available by June 2007. SCRATCH Study cohorts II-IV follow on and will recruit sequentially. They will assess the safety of adding concomitant cisplatin (±vinorelbine) to cetuximab and radical RT. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Rasburicase for the Management of Tumor Lysis Syndrome in Neonates

To describe the management of tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) with rasburicase in 2 patients who presented with cancer within the first month of life and compare and contrast both cases with respect to their underlying renal physiology, management, and eventual outcome. TLS developed in 2 neonates born at 38 weeks' gestational age; both were managed in part with rasburicase. One patient was a 21-day-old infant who received 2 days of induction chemotherapy for the treatment of congenital Stage IV-S neuroblastoma. With a single 0.2 mg/kg dose of rasburicase, the serum urate level normalized and the infant completed therapy without incident. The second patient was a 4-day-old neonate with congenital precursor-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia who presented with spontaneous TLS complicated by renal dysfunction. Despite several doses of intravenous rasburicase (2 doses of 0.1 mg/kg and 4 doses of 0.2 mg/kg), as well as aggressive supportive therapy, the infant died of complications arising from uncontrolled TLS. Neonates may be at particular risk for TLS given their immature renal function and its predisposition toward metabolic derangements. While rasburicase has the potential to provide a rapid reversal of TLS in this patient population, when TLS is complicated by pre-existing acute renal failure, additional interventions and alternative anti-tumor strategies may be necessary for a successful outcome. When managing TLS in infancy, clinicians must consider the relative degree of renal immaturity and its predisposition toward metabolic derangements. Rasburicase appears to be well tolerated and effective in lowering serum urate concentrations in the treatment of therapy-related TLS in neonates. However, in instances of spontaneous TLS complicated by the normally low glomerular filtration rate in the newborn infant, the use of rasburicase and other supportive care measures may still be inadequate, warranting further study.

Transient hyperglycemia in Hispanic children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Transient hyperglycemia occurs commonly during the treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of and risk factors for transient hyperglycemia during induction chemotherapy in Hispanic pediatric patients diagnosed with B-Precursor ALL. The study cohort consisted of 155 Hispanic pediatric patients diagnosed with ALL and treated at one of two South Texas pediatric oncology centers between 1993 and 2002. Hyperglycemia was defined as > or = 2 glucose determinations of > or = 200 mg/dl during the first 28 days of induction chemotherapy. Overall, 11.0% of the study cohort developed transient hyperglycemia during induction chemotherapy. Age and body mass index (BMI) were both positively associated with the risk of hyperglycemia. Females exhibited a substantially higher risk of hyperglycemia than males, but this association did not reach statistical significance after adjusting for other covariates. Among patients who developed hyperglycemia, 100% of those who required insulin were in the 13-18-year age group and reported a family history of diabetes. Hyperglycemic patients classified as obese (BMI > or = 95 centile) were more than twice as likely to have required insulin therapy compared to overweight patients (BMI 85-<95 centile) and three times as likely to have required insulin compared to normal weight (BMI < 85 centile) patients. The incidence of chemotherapy-induced transient hyperglycemia in the present study cohort is comparable to that reported in previous pediatric ALL patients. This finding is interesting in view of the elevated prevalence of obesity and the underlying dietary behaviors in this Hispanic study cohort.

Relation between the duration of remission and hyperglycemia during induction chemotherapy for acute lymphocytic leukemia with a hyperfractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone/methotrexate-cytarabine regimen.

Hyperglycemia, which is not uncommon during the treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), has been shown to be an independent predictor of adverse outcomes among hospitalized patients with undiagnosed diabetes; it also may have the potential to affect leukemic cell proliferation through altered metabolism. The purpose of the current study was to determine the prevalence of hyperglycemia during induction chemotherapy for ALL using a regimen comprised of hyperfractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone (Hyper-CVAD) and to determine its effect on survival, duration of disease remission, and treatment-related complications. Two hundred seventy-eight adult patients with previously untreated ALL who achieved a complete remission with the hyper-CVAD regimen were evaluated. Hyperglycemia was defined as > or = 2 glucose determinations of > or = 200 mg/dL during the first 30 days of induction chemotherapy. Induction chemotherapy was comprised of fractionated cyclophosphamide at a dose of 300 mg/m2 twice daily on Days 1-3, doxorubicin at a dose of 50 mg/m2 on Day 4, vincristine at a dose of 2 mg on Days 4 and 11, and dexamethasone at a dose of 40 mg on Days 1-4 and Days 11-14 (hyper-CVAD). Hyper-CVAD, given in odd-number courses (Courses 1, 3, 5, and 7), was alternated with methotrexate and cytarabine (MTX/Ara-C), given in even-number courses (Courses 2, 4, 6, and 8). MTX/Ara-C was comprised of MTX at a dose of 200 mg/m2 over 2 hours followed by 800 mg/m2 over 22 hours on Day 1, Ara-C at a dose of 3 g/m2 every 12 hours for 4 doses over 2 days (Days 2 and 3), and intravenous methylprednisolone given at a dose of 50 mg twice daily on Days 1-3. The complete remission duration (CRD), survival, and treatment-related complications were determined for patients with and without hyperglycemia; differences between the two groups were assessed using standard statistical methods. Hyperglycemia was found to occur in 103 patients (37%). Patients with hyperglycemia had a shorter median CRD (24 months vs. 52 months; P = 0.001) and a shorter median survival (29 months vs. 88 months; P < 0.001); they also were more likely to develop sepsis (16.5% vs. 8.0%; P = 0.03) or any complicated infection (sepsis, pneumonia, or fungal) (38.8% vs. 25.1%; P = 0.016) compared with patients without hyperglycemia. Patients with hyperglycemia during induction chemotherapy for ALL with the hyper-CVAD regimen were found to have a shorter CRD, experience a significant increase in overall mortality, and be at an increased risk for developing complicated infections.

Évolution favorable d'une mucormycose orbitonasosinusienne compliquant le traitement d'induction d'une leucémie aiguë lymphoblastique

Backgroun. - Most cases of mucormycosis occur in immunosuppressed children. Intracranial extension is lethal and must be prevented with early specific treatment. Case report. - A 42 month-old boy was admitted suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Edema of the left eyelid developed on the sixth day of induction chemotherapy. Mucormycosis was suspected because of gradual extension of infection to nasal ala and periorbital area with fever, edema of nasal turbinates and nasal black secretions. Chemotherapy was discontinued and the patient was given intravenous amphotericin B (1.0 mg/kg/day) and heparin associated with G.CSF. Improvement was only temporary and scan examination performed on day 17 showed involvement of the orbit, eye and wall of the maxillary sinus; cultures of secretions were positive for staphylococcus and Absidia corymbifera. Remission of leukemia was obtained a few days later permitting surgical resection of involved tissues on day 30. A relapse of mucormycosis was observed six weeks later despite prolonged administration of amphotericin B requiring extended resection of necrotic areas and replacement of amphotericin B by its liposomal form (Ambisome®). Bone marrow relapse of leukemia required further chemotherapy. The patient is in good condition 30 months after the initial symptoms. Conclusion. - Our patient seems to be the first with prolonged remission of facial mucormycosis and acute leukemia despite relapse of both diseases. This favorable outcome could be due to the use of Ambisome®.